According to the DSS, the graves contain remains of persons said to have been allegedly buried in them by members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
The DSS, also Saturday, accused the members of IPOB of engaging in kidnapping and extrajudicial killings.
The secret service further accused IPOB members of the kidnapping and killing of five Hausa-Fulani men whose remains it said were buried in the same forest.
This is, however, as the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, another pro-Biafra group has risen in full defence of IPOB, dismissing the allegations by the DSS as ‘lacking in merit and evidence.’
A statement issued by DSS spokesperson, Mr. Tony Opuiyo, in Abuja Saturday read, “Service has uncovered the heinous role played by members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra in the abduction/kidnap of five Hausa-Fulani residents, namely Mohammed Gainako, Ibrahim Mohammed, Idris Yakubu, and Isa Mohammed Rago at Isuikwuato LGA in Abia State.
“The abducted men were later discovered at the Umuanyi Forest, Abia State, where they were suspected to have been killed by their abductors and buried in shallow graves, amidst 50 other shallow graves of unidentified persons.
“Arrests and investigation conducted so far revealed that elements within the IPOB carried out this dastardly action.”
With this action, Opuiyo said it was pertinent to alert the general public that IPOB was gradually showing its true divisive colour and objectives, while steadily embarking on gruesome actions in a bid to ignite ethnic terrorism and mistrust amongst non-indigenes in the South-East region and other parts of the country.
Following this act, the DSS alerted that tension was currently rife among communal stakeholders in the state, with possibilities of spillover to other parts of the country.
The agency warned that it would not hesitate to act decisively within its statutory mandate to ensure that the sponsors and perpetrators of “this action are apprehended and prosecuted for their crime.”
However, the new leader of MASSOB, Uchenna Madu, in his response via a text message stated that MASSOB and IPOB would remain undeterred on their agitation.
“DSS allegation against pro-Biafra agitators lacks merit and evidence because MASSOB and IPOB are non- violent organisations. This is the highest frustration exhibited by Nigerian security agents against pro-Biafra agitators; they want to blackmail us as violent or terrorist group in order to get evidence against Nnamdi Kanu.
“Why have they not raised eyebrow on several killings and destruction of properties by Fulani herdsmen?
“We advise Igbo governors to immediately summon a meeting of stakeholders on the menace of Fulani fundamentalists.”
Meanwhile, the Abia State Government has stoutly denied knowledge of the report of shallow graves in any forest in the state.
In a statement, the Chief Press Secretary to the Abia State Governor, Mr. Godwin Adindu said that the government and people of Abia State are embarrassed by the story which he said is capable of causing ethnic/communal crisis in the country.
The statement reads reads, in full:
Our attention has been drawn to a report in a section of the media claiming that the Department of State Services (DSS), has uncovered 55 shallow graves in a forest in Abia State, where the remains of five Hausa-Fulani men were allegedly buried.
The governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and the good people of the state feel very highly embarrassed by the report which is capable of causing ethnic/communal crisis in the country. The Governor believes that stakeholders in information management in the country should be conscious of national security and therefore be cautious and reticent in their approach to such sensitive news.
We feel even more angry because our check with the security agencies in Abia has confirmed that the information did not emanate from any of the security units in Abia. Both the DSS in Abia, Police and Army have all denied ever issuing such information.
If anybody or group wrote a petition to the headquarters in Abuja, the most professional approach should be for the headquarters to confer with their departments in Abia. There is a Brigade Commander here; there is a Director of DSS and there is a Commissioner of Police, with a PPRO attached to his office. All the units have told me they never released any such information.
We are also worried that the media organs that published this news did not consider the sensitive nature of that information to national peace and security as to have also conferred and confirmed from their correspondents in Abia. None of the reports came with the byline of a correspondent in Abia State.
We condemn this flagrant abuse of professionalism by all the parties involved in the dissemination of this volatile and sensitive news which has not only embarrassed the government of Abia State but is also capable of raising tension and ethnic acrimony in the state.
We re-emphasize that the government of Abia State has not received any official report in this regard and therefore warn the instigators of this bad report to rethink their mischief.
Abia State enjoys a very peaceful and cordial inter-ethnic relations. There has been cooperation and harmony amongst all ethnic groups and all issues and pockets of breaches have also been amicably resolved and settled by the government.
